House Republican pitches tax relief for citrus farmers

A House Republican is trying to help Florida citrus growers rebound after a bacterial disease crippled their crops.

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) introduced legislation on Monday that would give tax incentives to farmers who can’t afford to replace affected trees on their own.

{mosads}Under current law, growers are allowed an immediate deduction for the cost of replanting diseased trees, but the farmer must bear the full cost. The Emergency Citrus Disease Response Act would allow struggling farmers to use that deduction even if they bring in investors to raise capital for replanting costs, as long as the grower continues to own a major stake in the grove. The bill also extends this incentive to purchasers of land with diseased trees.

Over the past eight growing seasons, citrus farmers in Florida have been plagued by huanglongbing (HLB), a bacterial plant disease that is more commonly known as citrus greening.  While not harmful for humans or animals, citrus greening results in bitter, hard, misshapen fruit and eventually causes the trees to die. There is currently no cure and infected trees must be destroyed.

“This commonsense legislation makes it less costly for citrus farmers to replant crops decimated by disease,” Buchanan said in a statement, noting that greening has already spread to all 32 citrus-growing counties across the state. “I’m especially pleased that a dozen of my colleagues from Florida joined me to help protect the livelihoods of the 76,000 Floridians directly and indirectly employed by the citrus industry.”

The bill has 12-cosponsors — four Democrats and eight Republicans, all from Florida.